The Magic of Denominations of Origin and Geographical Indications in Mexico

I came to this subject through tequila and, over the years, came to understand that it was only the opening chapter of a much larger story. The Bible already referred to certain vineyards by the places they came from. Centuries later, the Greeks and Romans distinguished wines and amphorae by their provenance. Long before the expression denomination of origin existed, there was already an intuition that certain things could not be replicated just anywhere, because they belonged to the land and the community that had brought them into being.

The legal framework came much later. When that intuition was translated into law, what mattered most was not the name given to the legal category, but its ability to protect the work of generations and enable a community to preserve the value of what it had built.

In Mexico, the first legal reference appeared in the Industrial Property Law of 1942, which already contemplated indications of source and designations or names of origin. The distance between the law and its practical application, however, remained considerable. More than three decades passed before Mexico formally recognized the Tequila denomination of origin in 1974, the first in the country, paving the way for the protection of other products connected to their territories.

Today, Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property recognizes two principal forms of protection: the denomination of origin and the geographical indication. Both connect a product to a particular place, but they do not require the same degree of connection.

In the case of a denomination of origin, the product’s quality, characteristics, or reputation depend essentially on its geographical origin and, more specifically, on the raw materials, production processes, and natural and cultural factors of the region. For a geographical indication, it is sufficient for a particular quality, characteristic, or reputation to be attributable to any one of those elements.

Consider a cheese produced for generations in a particular valley. If its distinctive qualities depend on milk from local herds, the region’s pastures and climate, and the traditional knowledge of its cheesemakers, it is closer to a denomination of origin. If its identity rests primarily on a recognized local production method or reputation, even when some of its ingredients come from elsewhere, it is more akin to a geographical indication.

In Mexico, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, or IMPI) is responsible for recognizing these forms of protection and publishing the corresponding declaration in the country’s Official Gazette. From that moment, the denomination or indication is protected as a national asset, and its use requires authorization from IMPI and compliance with the applicable conditions.

Since that first declaration in 1974, Mexico has recognized 19 denominations of origin. In addition to Tequila, these include Mezcal, Sotol, and Talavera. The geographical indication is a much more recent legal instrument. Its regulatory framework was defined more clearly beginning in 2020, and the first declarations were published in 2022. Mexico currently has 41 geographical indications, including Tapetes de Teotitlán (Teotitlán rugs), Catrinas de Barro de Capula(Capula clay Catrina figures), and Cajeta de Celaya (Celaya’s traditional caramelized milk confection).

In June 2026, IMPI granted geographical-indication protection to Aguacate Franja Michoacán, covering avocados grown across several municipalities in the state and recognizing the value of one of Mexico’s leading agricultural exports. Mexico’s Ministry of Economy presided over the ceremony at the direction of the President’s Office, reflecting the importance of these forms of protection within the country’s economic agenda.

The geographical indication has thus opened a pathway for products with a genuine connection to their territory that might otherwise have struggled to meet the requirements of a denomination of origin. The connection is not weaker. It is simply different. What changes is the way in which origin is expressed in the product.

Formal recognition is only the starting point. It does not guarantee success. Turning a declaration into tangible value requires organized producers, clear rules, credible controls, and a shared vision for the product’s future. In the agrifood sector, this challenge also concerns representative organizations such as Mexico’s National Agricultural Council (Consejo Nacional Agropecuario), whose agenda encompasses producer organization, value creation, commercialization, and the competitiveness of producers and agribusinesses.

Tequila illustrates the difference. Its denomination of origin has achieved the greatest degree of institutional consolidation in Mexico, supported by organizations such as the Tequila Regulatory Council (Consejo Regulador del Tequila) and the National Chamber of the Tequila Industry (Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera), which are able to verify compliance, certify, promote, and defend the product. Mezcal has also made progress, with its own standard and organizations dedicated to assessment and certification. Mexico’s other denominations and geographical indications now have the opportunity to develop their own models of collective organization.

When this process is carried through, the results become measurable. According to the Tequila Regulatory Council, production increased from 104 million liters in 1995 to 651 million liters in 2022, during the same period in which its certification, verification, and protection systems were consolidated. Today, the tequila production chain supports more than 100,000 Mexican families.

The European experience further demonstrates the economic potential of these protections. The European Commission estimates annual sales of geographical-indication products at more than €75 billion and reports that they account for 15.5% of the European Union’s agrifood exports. The study underlying that estimate concluded that the sales value of a product with a protected geographical origin is, on average, twice that of a comparable product without certification.

These figures are not the result of a declaration alone. They reflect what can happen when the name, the community, the rules, the controls, and the market operate as a genuine system.

Products travel, but their protection does not automatically travel with them. Foreign markets are strategic for many denominations and geographical indications, yet Mexican protection ends at the border. Beyond it, protection must be secured all over again.

The Lisbon System simplifies this process by allowing a single international registration to extend protection across its member jurisdictions. This mechanism is complemented by national registration systems and international agreements.

For Mexico, the most immediate of these is the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), known in Spanish as the T-MEC, particularly now that the agreement is under review. The negotiations concern more than tariffs and rules of origin. They also uphold the recognition of what each country regards as uniquely its own. The agreement recognizes tequila and mezcal as distinctive products of Mexico and grants equivalent treatment to Bourbon Whiskey, Tennessee Whiskey, and Canadian Whisky. In practice, these names are reserved for products made in their respective countries of origin in accordance with their domestic laws.

International cooperation took another step forward in May 2026, when oriGIn, a Geneva-based organization representing more than 500 producer associations across 40 countries, opened its first Latin American office in Jalisco. The office serves as a regional hub and is based in Zapopan within the Tequila Regulatory Council, with the support of IMPI.

From there, it will work with government authorities, intellectual property offices, and producer associations to strengthen governance, protection, enforcement, and market access. It will also serve as a two-way bridge between Latin America and other regions. Our region has products with history and established markets. It now also has a platform from which to organize, protect, and project them internationally.

My relationship with these forms of protection is also personal. I came to Mexico from Venezuela many years ago. I married here, my son was born here, I became a citizen, and today I practice as a Mexican lawyer. Denominations of origin introduced me to a profound dimension of Mexican culture and prompted me to turn my attention back to Venezuelan products such as Cocuy Pecayero and Ron de Venezuela, both born from traditions preserved over generations.

Origin travels with the products we export and with those of us who migrate. I recognize the privilege of carrying two cultures and owing something to each of them. Latin America faces shared structural gaps, but it also has products capable of claiming a distinctive place in the world. The work ahead is to build the institutional framework that will allow them to go farther without losing what makes them unique.

Francisco Parra is a lawyer and consultant specializing in corporate law and business institutionalization in Mexico and Latin America. He holds an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law and the Técnico Tequilero credential from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. He previously served as Legal and Compliance Director at Grupo Bimbo and as General Counsel of Clase Azul México. He is the author of Tequila: Cultura, Leyes y Negocios (Tequila: Culture, Law and Business).